Animal vaccine is a kind of biological agent that enables inoculated animals to produce active immunity for disease prevention. In recent years, European and American animal vaccine markets have seen slower growth due to quality safety, high maturity and other factors, while the animal vaccine markets in emerging countries including China have developed rapidly.

The Chinese animal vaccine market size grew from RMB1.4 billion in 2004 to RMB14.0 billion in 2014 at a high rate of 25.9%, and is expected to hit around RMB16.9 billion in 2015, a year-on-year increase of 20.7%.

In China, animal vaccines fall into two categories: 1. Epidemic disease vaccines subject to national compulsory immunization programme (compulsory immunization vaccines include highly pathogenic avian influenza vaccine, foot-and-mouth disease vaccine, highly pathogenic PRRS vaccine, swine fever vaccine, and PPR vaccine in Xinjiang and Tibet); 2. Epidemic disease vaccines beyond national compulsory immunization programme (non-compulsory immunization vaccines). As the problems like low price and low quality caused by the system of purchasing by invitation to bid have greatly impacted the development of livestock and poultry breeding in China, the government has been piloting reform of the tendering system in multiple regions, planning to advance the marketization of vaccines through direct subsidies to farmers.

Large breeding companies, out of overall consideration based on economic benefits, are increasingly inclined to buy high-quality market-oriented vaccines which are 5-15 times as expensive as vaccines purchased under policy. Hence, the Chinese animal vaccine market size is expected to grow significantly in the future, reaching RMB41.2 billion in 2020.

Although the Chinese animal vaccine market is primarily controlled by domestic companies with a share of 90% or so, the high-end vaccine market, such as pet vaccines, is occupied by foreign brands including Zoetis (formerly Pfizer's animal health division), Fort Dodge, Intervet, Merial, and BoehringerIngelheim. These foreign players not only directly sell vaccines in China but also have been increasing their investment in the country.

In 2014, the animal vaccine manufacturing base, with total investment of EUR55.5 million and jointly founded by BoehringerIngelheim and Taizhou China Medical City, started construction. Some pig vaccines will be first commercialized in the China Medical City after the manufacturing base is completed in 2016. Intervet Holding BV and CAHIC signed a cooperation agreement in 2015, planning to jointly explore domestic and foreign markets and enhance competitiveness.

However, Chinese local animal vaccine companies are also scaling up efforts for research and development, making their presence in high-end vaccines and expanding varieties of vaccines. There were 25 kinds of registered animal vaccines in China in 2015, a year-on-year growth of 78.6%, including 10 kinds of pig vaccines, 10 kinds of poultry vaccines, and 5 kinds of other animal vaccines like Mink Hemorrhagic Pneumonia Bivalent Vaccine, Inactivated (Serotype G, Stain WD005 + Serotype B, Stain DL007) and Turbot EdwardsiellatardaVaccine, Live (Strain EIBAV1).

Moreover, great progress has been made in pet vaccines. Rabies vaccines, inactivated produced by Pulike Biological Engineering, Tianjin Ringpu Bio-technology, and Shanghai Hile Bio-Technology are expected to be approved and go on the market at the end of 2016 or in 2017.